ENGLAND AT WAR

Wairarapa Times-Age, 12 December 1939, Page 9

ENGLAND AT WAR

EXTRAORDINARY UNITY GREAT MORAL ISSUES. BISHOP HOLLAND'S VIEWS. (Bj’ Telegraph—Press Association.) WELLINGTON, This Day. The extraordinary unity of the British nation in the face of war was commented on by the Bishop of Welling- | ton, the Rt Rev H. St Barbe Holland, when replying to the welcome tendered him yesterday by the clergy and laity of the diocese on his return from England. The approach of war became more and more evident as August wore on, he said, and when it came all were surprised almost beyond expression by the extraordinary unity of the whole nation. It seemed as if there really was such a thing as a national soul and that every single Briton was aware that the integrity of that national soul was being challenged by Hitler and his aggressive policy. MOST UNUSUAL ATMOSPHERE. “There was a most extraordinary atmosphere in the House of Commons on the Saturday before war was declared," Bishop Holland said. “The nation was determined that whatever happened it was not going to give way at the last moment. At 11 o’clock on the Sunday when the House met there was a sense of peace that the right thing had been done. The result was that the nation set to work on the job in an extraordinary quiet, solid way, without any fuss.” Bishop Holland said that in Scotland, where he had been on the outbreak of both the last war and this one, there was a noticeable difference. On this occasion there was no gathering of crowds, no excitement and not a shout. That covered a sense of the tragic side of the whole situation. The nation knew that it was in for the greatest test in its whole existence. It knew it had to be willing to sacrifice anything because of what was at stake. THE NATION’S ATTITUDE. The mind of the nation was fixed on the fact that the only values worth living for were those challenged by Hitler, he said. An extraordinary thing was that in spite of the appalling dislocation of life, public and private, and the unutterable irritation of Government regulations, there was no sign of any change in the nation’s attitude. The patience any lack of discontent was extraordinary. The evacuation of children in England had led to a revelation, which the rest of the nation had never dreamt of, of how completely its civilisation had failed in creating a standard of life of any value worth having in the slums of its cities. The nation had had its eyes opened and as the first thing after the war it was going to rid Britain of what was acknowledged to be an utter disgrace—the way the lower levels of the population lived in the. cities. There was going to be a revolution in the whole country, which was never going back to the same things again. The war was very indefinite a war of great moral issues and it was hoped was going to have a great moral issue at the end. That it was a war of that description and that there was no question of imperialism was proved by the fact that the one topic of controversy in England today was whether the nation ought to declare its peace aims. Those who advocated that that should be done realised that unless the nation nailed its colours to the mast it might easily be tempted to forget the aims with which it entered the war. It was only after 20 years that one or two of the graver issues of Versailles had been realised.

DIFFICULT TIME FOR CHURCH.

Bishop Holland said the Church was going to go through difficult times. He quoted the opinion of one man expressed to him that the days of the Church were numbered: that the war was going to finish it. That man felt that the whole of the present tragedy formed a great charge against the Church and its activities. The effect of the evacuation of the cities on the Church was going to be great. One of the immediate results in London was that 50 curates had to go. All evening services in England were closed down on Sundays because of the blackouts. The great problem was how to keep the worship of the Church alive. .

Bishop Holland said he was certain there had to be an aggressive move on the part of the Church to meet the situation. In England there had been a real sense of disappointment that in the first weeks of the war the Church had found it difficult to know what to say. Archbishop Temple was quite the bravest of the Church leaders and had the ear of the nation.